GRACE

GRACE.

Biblical Teaching (§ 1). Medieval Doctrine (§ 3).
The Church Fathers (§ 2). Luther and Melanchthon (§ 4).
The Reformed Church (§ 5).

In the language of religion grace is the spontaneous, unmerited manifestation of divine love upon which rests the redemption of the sinner. Of the respective Hebrew expressions, hen has the general meaning of favor, while hesedh belongs specially to the sphere of religion and ethics, and denotes divine as well as human love. The term charis in the New Testament represents both conceptions, but is used preponderatingly of God's disposition. Manifestation of love is mercy (Heb. rahamim, Gk. eleos) in so far as it relieves need and misery; grace, in so far as it does not consider the unworthiness of the receiver as an obstacle.

I. Biblical Teaching.

The people of Israel founded their election upon God's grace, which has no end (Isa. liv. 8-10). The Gospel of Jesus is a testimony of the pardoning and saving love of God, although the word "grace" is not used. The time of grace, promised by Isaiah, was fulfilled in Jesus, who manifested himself as the mediator of saving grace. Salvation in the kingdom of God was represented by Jesus repeatedly as the reward of corresponding conduct (Luke vi. 35, xvi. 9; Matt. v. 11 sqq., xix. 29); although at the same time every legal claim of man upon God (Luke xvii. 10) and all proportion between human achieve ment and divine gift are denied (Matt. xx. 1-16). John attests the fulness of grace which is to be found in Jesus (John i. 14, 16) and places charis in antithesis to nomos (verse 17); but for him the conception of love preponderates. For Paul, however, grace is the fundamental concept of the Gospel. It is God's free favor toward sinners, effecting their salvation in Christ. It is entirely spontaneous, and excludes all relation of debt or merit. It is mediated by redemption; its result is righteousness (Rom. v. 21) or forgiveness of sins (Eph. i. 7), and its aim is eternal life (Rom. v. 21). For Paul, grace is in the first place God's personal disposition; but it is also God's effective activity in Christ as it realizes itself in actual deeds (Eph. ii. 5; Titus ii. 11); and, finally, he understands by it the share of the individual in salvation as it is seized in faith (Rom. xii. 3; II Cor. xii. 9). Paul never regards grace as a general power separable from the person of Christ and his historical activity; it is always a "grace in Christ" (II Tim. ii. 1).

2. The Church Fathers.

The Greek Church Fathers regarded freedom of choice as an indispensable condition of all moral life. Sin, according to them, is only an instantaneous decision of the will. Grace can not, therefore, abolish man's freedom, but only supplements his spontaneous activity. For Pelagius, liberty of will is an endowment of nature that can not be lost. According to Augustine, man has lost the will to do good by his fall. Grace is, therefore, the power which frees man from evil concupiscence and creates in him the will to do good. The will to do good is conditioned by grace not only in its incipiency, but also in its continuance. Thus there seems to be no room for human merit; yet Augustine can think of good action only in the form of good works. Therefore he makes them dependent upon grace and regards them as gifts of God (dei munera), as phenomena of an inner change. Thus Augustine's doctrine of grace agrees with that of Paul in so far as he traces salvation exclusively to God; but it differs from Paul in so far as it brings grace only into a loose connection with the person of Christ and as it sees its essence not so much in the forgiveness of sins as in the communication of moral powers.

3. Medieval Doctrine.

The scholastics of the middle Ages retained essential elements of Augustine's doctrine of grace; Thomas Aquinas especially followed closely in his steps. According to the scholastics, the original communication of grace is entirely unmerited. Grace is here also a communication of power, a quality that is infused into the soul. With the infusion of a new moral life there is also brought to us the remission of guilt, though the latter is dependent upon the former. Like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas upholds the necessity of, good works which are made possible on the basis of received grace, although he infers the necessity of grace not from the radical nature of sinful corruption, but from the transcendent character of the religious gift which is obtainable only by a transcendent power. More over, his statement that God is the "first cause" is for him only an abstract metaphysical sentence; in practise he gives room to free will in the preparation

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Greece Green THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 50

mans were settled there at that time (cf. Acts xvii. 21); and there were also Jews there (Acts xvii. 17). Paul may have been interested in the votive offerings of Herod (Josephus, War, I., xxi. 11) and while walking through the city (Acts xvii. 23) must have been greatly impressed by the profusion of sanotuaries. Of the many altars one especially attracted his attention, that devoted to "the unknown god" (Acts xvii. 23). He disputed in the synagogue, and appeared daily in the market and held discussions with those who chanced to be there (Acts xvii. 17), including Epicureans and Stoics. He was brought before the court of the Areopagus (Acts xvii. 19), which met in the market before the royal colonnade (Pausanias I., iii. 1), no doubt to determine whether he and his preaching should be tolerated in Athens. That "Areopagus" in the narrative means the court, not merely the locality where it met, is shown by the mention of "Dionysius the Areopagite" (Acts xvii. 34.)

Not being successful at Athens, Paul went to Corinth, which became the center of his missionary work in Greece. There he wrote his epistles to the Thessalonians, to the Romans, perhaps also to the Galatians. To the Corinthians he wrote several, perhaps four, epistles (see PAUL THE APOSTLE),

since the Christians of Achma caused 3. Corinth. him much trouble. For Paul's mis-

sionary method, for th3 difficulties to be overcome, for the typical experiences in the lives of the congregations, there is nothing more instructive and characteristic than what may be learned from all sources with regard to the Corinthian Church. At Corinth was to be found a mixture of Romans, Greeks, and Orientals, a cosmopolitan syncretistic "heathenism." That many Jews lived there is a matter of course (Acts xviii. 4, 7).

The city of Corinth was one of the most flourishing commercial cities of antiquity, and its situation between two seas made it the natural emporium between the Orient and the Occident. Naturally it had two ports. The western, Lecteeum, north of Corinth, was formerly connected with the city by walls; the eastern seaport was Cenchrea (Rom. xvi. 1; Acts xviii. 18), with a Christian congregation of its own. In the city was a sanctuary of the Ephesian Artemis; in the market a statue of Athene and a sanctuary of the Capitoline Zeus. On a rock which afforded a beautiful view stood the temple cf Aphrodite. There were also two sanctuaries of Isis, two of Serapis, altars to Helios, a temple of Anangke and Bia, and one of the mother of the gods. It can easily be imagined that in such a city immorality abounded; the catalogue of vices in Rom. i. 18-32 was written at Corinth, as was I Thess. iv. 1-12; and the epistles to the Corinthians show that Paul had to oppose there the base viciousness of heathenism. A great attraction for Greeks and Romans and for the rabble were the Isthmian games, and it is perhaps not accidental that Paul betrays an intimate knowledge of the stadium (cf. I Cor. ix. 24-27). The congregation in Corinth was composed of members belonging to the lower class of the population (I Cor. i. 26 sqq.), so that, since it was there less possible than elsewhere to speak to people of the lower and higher

ranks at the same time, Paul there preached to the people. According to his own statement (I Cor. ii. 1 sqq.), he pursued there a method different from that followed in Athens. Like a popular speaker he relied entirely upon convincing, spiritual preaching, laying aside philosophic refinements. But this did not exclude the well-considered rhetorical form which he used in the epistles to the Corinthians. The rhetoric employed by him was the kind used by the popular orators among the Cynics, as may be seen from the diatribes of Epictetus and the much earlier Teles. About the time of Paul, or a little later, the cynic Demetrius, the friend of Seneca, labored at Corinth, and no doubt the apostle intentionally adopted the method of these popular orators.

A word may be added about Nioopolis (the mod ern Prevesa, situated in Albania, the old Epirus, at the outlet of the Gulf of Arta). Zahn 4. Nicopolis. (Einleitung in das Neue Testament, i., Leipsic, 1900, pp. 434-435) has proved that Titus iii. 12 refers to this city. This Roman colony (Aclia Niwpolis) was established by Augus tus in memory of the battle of Actium. Tacitus (Annalea, ii. 53) speaks of it as belonging to Achma. Its special attractions were the sanctuary of Apollo and the Actian games indroduced by Augustus. Here again it was a modern, flourishing city that Paul selected for a longer residence. Nicopolis was afterward the scene of the labors of the Stoic Epio tetus. (JOHANNES WEISS.)

II. Modern Greece: The present kingdom of Greece dates from 1832. It comprises a continental portion, the Xgean Archipelago, and the Ionian Islands, with an area of 25,014 square miles, and a population of about 2,600,000, which belongs almost solidly to the Eastern Orthodox confession. Its Church (the "Church in Greece") is autonomous, having no hierarchical connection with the patriarch of Constantinople, and has been so, essentially, since 1833, although the separation was formally made by the constitution of 1852. The dignity of archbishop was abolished, save that a priority was reserved for the metropolitan of Athens, and the Church was recognized as a State Church in the national constitution. Since 1852 the highest authority in all affairs of church government has been exercised by the "Holy Synod," which is composed of the metropolitan and four other bishops, the latter being called in turn to officiate thus at Athens for the term of one year. The government convenes the synod, pays the salaries of these officers', and guarantees the validity of the synod's enactments by counter-signature of the state commissioner. Further a general council of the bishops and qualified abbots may be convened as supreme tribunal. The Holy Synod elects and ordains bishops, who, however, must be confirmed by the government. In like manner the Holy Synod examines and appoints the remaining clergy. In case of an ecclesiastical assignment, in respect to educational institutions, the erection of a convent, and the alteration of feast-days, the government's consent is required. The church administration is vested in thirty-two bishops (besides the metropolitan), twenty-two of whom are stationed on the mainland. There are also many monasteries; in 1898

61 RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA d' Green

the number was 198, including nine nunneries; though, all told, they sheltered only some 1,500 monks and nuns. The number of pastoral cures was 4,025, with 5,670 clergy, only 242 of whom were unmarried. Most of them were without higher scholastic education, the number with only common-school training being 4,116. The clerical stipends are meager, usually being derived solely from voluntary gifts and surplice-fees. Besides three so-called clerical schools (at Tripolis, Chalcis, and Syra), which have scant attendance, there is a theological seminary at Athens.

Of other Christian confessions, only the Roman Catholic Church has an appreciable following, with a membership of about 22,000. The hierarchical establishment indicates a propagandist attitude of this Church in Greece, there being (since 1875) three provinces, Athens, Corfu, and Naxos. The latter comprises five suffragan sees, Andros, Syra, Tino, Santorin, and Milo. The archbishop of Corfu has also jurisdiction over the dioceses of Zante and Cephalonia; these two sees have but little over 7,000 adherents, a number surpassed by the single diocese of Syra. The number of secular and cloistered clergy is considerable; six male and seven female orders or congregations, mainly from France, are active in the country.

The number and significance of the Protestants is alight, there being only four small congregations, three in the capital and one at Pirieus. The socalled court congregation includes Protestant Germans, Swiss, and French; it is in charge of the clergyman whom the Protestant king (a prince of Denmark) maintains as preacher. The Anglican congregation numbers about 120. It is difficult to estimate the number of Greek Protestants, since not a few of them do not formally separate from the old Orthodox congregations. The congregation at Pirteus has grown slowly. A popular tumult, incited by attempts at proselyting, led to the destruction of its house of worship in 1888. Occasional Protestant services are held in other places, e.g., in Patras and Volo. There are some 6,000 Jews, more than half of whom belong to the Sephardim; and, notwithstanding copious emigration, there are still about 24,000 Mohammedans, mostly in Thessaly.

Popular education has been considerably promoted by compulsory schooling from the age of six to thirteen, though in many districts attendance is not enforced. There are 3,263 common schools, 285 public high schools, 39 state gymnasia, ten normal schools for men and three for women, and a number of private and technical schools. The University of Athens is a collective center for modern Greek scholarship and culture, with some 2,600 students from all parts of the Levant. It embraces faculties of law, medicine, philosophy, science, and theology. WILHELm GOETZ.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: On I. the three books indispensable are: G. Finlay, Hint. of Greece, Vol. i., London, 1877; G. Herts berg, Die Gewhwhte Gnechunlande unter der Herrschatt der Remer, vols. i. ii., Halls, 1866; T. Mommeen, Rsmischs Geschidte, ii. 42-b0, v. 230-294, Berlin, 1903-04. Con sult also: W. M. Ramsay, Historical Geography of Asia Minor, London, 1890; idem, The Church in the Roman Empire, New York, 1893; idem, St. Paul the Traveller, ib. 1896; and literature under LB=i; PAUL; and works

on the Church history of the Apostolic Age; also DB, ii. 280--263; %L, v. 1200-27.

On IL: Finlay, ut sup., vols., vi.-vii.; T. G. Clark, Christianity East and West, London, 1889; R. Curzon, Visits to the Monasteries of the Levant, ib. 1897; R. B. C. Sheridan, The (reek Catholic Church, O3dord, 1901; C. Berth, Die orientaliache Chriatsnheit der MitWmeerlander, Berlin, 1902; I. Silbernagl, Verfassunp and pepenw8rtiper Bestand aamtlicher Kirchen des Orients, Regensburg, 1904.

GREEK CHURCH. See EASTERN CHURCH.